Answer TWO of the
following:
Q1: In Chapter VII , the Creature reads more books borrowed from the
De Lacey clan, as well as a strange manuscript he’s been carrying around since
his ‘birth.’ How do these books further shape his education, and why might they
definitively push him over the edge?
Q2: Twice the Creature
says “I, like the archfiend, bore a hell within me” (138) and “it stirred the
fiend within me,” (145) which echoes Victor’s earlier statement “I bore a hell
within me that nothing could extinguish” (89). Are there other tell-tale signs
in the Creature’s language that he shares Victor’s thoughts, imagery, and
vocabulary? Is this proof that the Creature is Victor, or is it more a
case of “like father, like son”?
Q3: When Victor bids
farewell to Elizabeth (after planning to marry her), the text merely says that
she “acquiesced; but she was filled with disquiet at the idea of my suffering,
away from her, the inroads of misery and grief...she bade me a tearful, silent
farewell.” However, the original 1818 version of the novel reads like this: “Elizabeth Elizabeth
Q4: Why does Victor
ultimately agree to creature a mate for his creation, even though he finds the
work detestable and the implications frightening? Does he finally sympathize
with his ‘son,’ or feel a sense of duty towards his creation? Or are there
darker, more sinister motives behind his acceptance?
Q3. I think I prefer the 1918 version! It gives Elizabeth personality and autonomy. It calls out the society that Shelley was born into, the fact that a woman’s life was contingent on her husband (or male relatives). Mary Shelley’s reputation suffered from her affair with Percy Shelley, and even today we have trouble disassociating her fame from his. With few opportunities for an education/career of Elizabeth’s own, how must it feel to see Frankenstein so ungrateful? And if a woman’s purpose was to make a man’s life more pleasant, Victor’s constant depression must a been a slap in the face, a bad job review.
ReplyDeleteBut it makes sense that Shelley would change it. It’s far too insightful for someone as self-absorbed as Frankenstein to observe, and this story is told from his point of view. The 1931 version makes her response to his departure more about him, which he seems to assume most things are.
Q4. I like looking at this question with the interpretation that the monster is a figment of Frankenstein’s imagination. The urge to do one of these experiments comes over him every time he’s experiencing an emotional trauma—the loss of his mother, execution of Justine. The way he describes his moods—mania, then depression, then an appearance by the monster—resembles schizophrenia, doesn’t it? I’m not sure, but I think his creation of the first monster was connected in some way to his feelings of inadequacy as a son? A man? And maybe the creation of a mate has something to do with the pressure to marry Elizabeth and become the head of a household?
Interestingly, although it’s not mentioned in the chapters we read, if Frankenstein’s ‘monsters’ are capable of reproducing, that plants the seed for future schizophrenic episodes.
1. It further serves to single him out from other humans. Not only is there no one like him, he lacks any real possessions of worth, but his creator even despises him. What are the odds of anyone else finding any value or beauty in him if his 'father' cannot even stomach the thought of having created him? Before reading the manuscript (and confronting his 'neighbors')he had hope that he could fit in somewhere. That, somehow, someone might look at him and /not/ be terrified. Then it's all shattered.
ReplyDelete3. It certainly gives Elizabeth more personality and life than the 'updated' version. "It's great that you can work on yourself by taking a big field trip. Shame I can't do that and all I can do is just wait around for you. You're the only one that can make something of their selves, and if you're miserable what choice to any of us have?" You said in class that in the early days of her writing, Mary Shelly wanted to rock the world. She wanted to change things. This was a bit of a jab at men>women placement of society. It was also personal, which when she was older she might not have wanted to admit to. Especially after realizing that she alone couldn't change anything. She might have still felt that way, but /saying/ it would have only made it worse for her at that point in her life, I think. An admission of bitterness and anger.
Q1: the monster first learns to speak and then to read from his observations of the cottagers. one of the first books he reads is a history of empires and he learns the accomplishments of mankind but also its tragedies. through reading he gains knowledge of the human world and it kind of terrifies him and once you learn it you cannot get rid of it. he later goes on to read paradise lost which really resonates with him, he believes he is adam since he was the first being created by victor but he also thinks he is like satan since he was cast away like a fallen angel. so like adam the creature wants a mate to have as a companion but if that doesn't work then he will try to destroy the world like satan.
ReplyDeleteQ2: if the word choice of the two characters happen to just be coincidence then it will one of the biggest coincidence in literary history. i also find it very hard to believe that the monster learned all of those very big and fancy words from the cottagers in such a relatively short time. the two of them seem to also share a fondness for nature which in both of their stories they mention quite often. with the same word choices and strange affinity for nature it would be weirder if the monster wasn't real, it really seems that the monster is more like a mental scarecrow that he puts all of his bad thoughts into it so he doesn't have to deal with them himself.
Q1: He reads books about history because he doesn’t know anything about the world he was born into. He reads a books to understand why the people around him don’t want him. The people he’s borrowing books from don’t like him even his own creator doesn’t like him and screams he’s a monster. The creature hopes that if Victor creates a girl like him that she will love him. All he really has ever wanted was to be loved and feel wanted.
ReplyDeleteQ2: I think you get certain tendencies from your parents. In this case Victor creates him so he puts some of his tendencies into making him, not realizing it. The creature does some stuff like Victor and others that Victor wouldn’t dream of doing. This case could be “like father, like son” but we can’t really be sure since Victor can’t even face the creature without screaming monster.
Bailey Copeland
Q2: It could be a bit of both. I think Shelley wants the reader to imagine The Creature as the other half of Frankenstein, which is why they seem to share similar modes of thinking, rationalizing, mindset, and speech. There are numerous hints throughout the book that point to Victor and the Creature being one entity, but at the end of the book when “the Creature” seemingly kills Elizabeth after the wedding, I started to realize maybe Shelley’s intention was to pull a fast one and shock the reader into realizing that they are two separate entities, and that the Creature really did kill Elizabeth, and was most likely responsible for William’s death as well.
ReplyDeleteQ4: I think Victor not only shares a sense of responsibility to the Creature as his creator and/or father but he does sympathize with him. Victor has been unhappy since his mother died when he was young, and by giving the Creature a mate, he is making someone else happy. However, he lets his anger get the best of him and he destroys his creation, infuriating the Creature who promises to be there on Victor’s wedding night. By committing a selfish act, he essentially corrupts the Creature, prompting him to murder Elizabeth.